Eagle Byzantium

Bodin stood on the tower of the palace and looked at the Venetian warships everywhere around the sea in Zatar City. It happened to be the calmest season in the entire ocean, so Felaille ordered all the ships to be connected with iron hooks. connected to form a blockade wall floating on the sea. On the sea opposite Zatar City, on the narrow sandbar, Venice hired The incoming "Razor Company" has forcibly landed. Under the command of Gonletto, all the people and garrison soldiers in the entire sandbank fishing village and St. Michael's Church above it were slaughtered. All the corpses were thrown into the bay and washed with blood. Walking along the city wall on the seaside of Zata, coming and going, along the church, Venetian sailors have also docked and seem to be assembling a stone-shooting machine.

However, the Venetians did not dare to approach the city wall yet. They set up land camps at two sea points adjacent to Zata City. Depending on the situation, they wanted to join Gawain's Dalian team as soon as possible and surround Zata City across the board.

In addition, Bodin also saw that on the towers of the entire city wall, his own soldiers had been mobilized, and baskets of saltpeter fire, arrows, and slings were brought up. The craftsmen were inspecting the cracks in the wall and repairing them. long narrow bay There is a double-layered chain across the harbor to prevent Venetian ships from intruding. Not only that, on both sides of this branch of the harbor, there is the northern city wall of Zata on one side and Fort Meeks on the land hill on the other. If the enemy dares to enter, he will definitely be killed. There is no return.

Burdine, who felt a little relieved about the sea situation, then walked through the streets under the escort of the guards and came to the city wall at the promontory. After comforting the fifty garrison soldiers on it, he passed through the grabbers on the promontory. The suspension bridge follows the four fortresses on the hill. When he climbed up to get a bird's eye view, he was not surprised to see the Red Hand Company: the company in the front line and their cavalry were watching their own side below, and the craftsmen in the rear line were also cutting down trees around them. It seemed that It was building siege engines and towers. "With the slope below, they have to build another mountain to push these equipment to our city gate." Bodin sarcastically said on the battlement, and the noble officers accompanying him laughed in response.

After nightfall, the core part of the Dalian team's camp was the Grand Duke's tent made of crimson silk, where Gawain lived. The bonfire was burning, and soon Felaye Mochenigo quietly walked in under the protection of a small group of mercenaries. The consul first transferred to a boat, then boarded a land camp, and then walked about five kilometers before arriving here.

Arrival of the Archons. He received a warm welcome from the entire camp: Gawain's military servants and generals bowed to Felaye, while Felaye's priest interpreter and entourage knelt down directly in front of Gawain and kissed the "priest minister." fingers.

Then Gawain opened a box, took out the sundial and star chart that Artehe had given him, and solemnly handed it over to Felaye's hands, whose eyes shone with surprise and praise. "Don't worry, our fleet's lookouts will work with this map to calculate the wind direction and climate around Za'tar City in the past week."

Gawain will slender fingers. He made a mark on the sand table of the model of Za'tar City, "Now, what weapon is the greatest threat to your ships between Mix Fortress and Cape City Wall?"

"Even if the deck and wooden rafters are covered with wet cowhide, it will be difficult to withstand the fire projectile because the towers of Zatar and Meeksburg are very high. In addition, the altitude of the seaside cliffs is superimposed. , they could easily tower over them and fire them at the decks and sails of our ships from both sides, in that case..."

"We'll all be burned or drowned. Or captured, right?"

Everyone here felt solemn. No matter what, this was a very challenging military adventure.

"Since the city of Za'tar is right in front of us, we must conquer it. There is no room for maneuver when San Marco's fleet sets sail and the Red Hand Company sets out." In the end, the hands of Felaye and Gawain were in the air. They held hands together in front of a roaring bonfire and cheered each other up.

Five days later, the originally brilliant sunshine suddenly quietly converged behind the clouds. Constantine Bertin, who was sitting in the palace hall reading documents and account books, saw the black shadow beginning to cover the potted plants beside the colonnade, and unconsciously He stood up from his chair and walked to the balcony of the palace. The rain soon poured down, bringing with it the mist that drifted from the deep inland land. On the sandbank where St. Michael's Church is located, the Venetian stone-shooting machines were still moving towards this place one after another. The sound was emitted from the solid stone wall, like a scratching shoe, with a dull and monotonous sound.

Soon, the rain became heavier and heavier, and the sandbank gradually disappeared. Bourdin could still see the enemy sterns who began to take the risk of setting fire to fire (which is strictly prohibited for ships in Venice and Amalfi under normal weather conditions). Illuminating the waterway, I hurriedly drove towards the north - there, in the land camp built by Venice, there was a small bay that could provide temporary parking for ships.

The ships passed by one by one, and the soldiers guarding the city under the city walls, corridors and sheds also used torches to illuminate their eyes, monitoring the direction of the ships until they disappeared from sight one by one. He breathed a sigh of relief.

Bodin, who also felt settled, turned around and walked back to the table, discussing with several cardinals: reinforcements from Puskoje, Page and other areas were being ordered to come to reinforce here. Bodin couldn't help but feel slightly proud when he thought of this. It seemed that his previous persistence was right. If he didn't give up Za'tar, didn't give up the treasury on the seaside, and kept the city, as long as he could have a small fleet of merchant ships, he could Bring endless help to your royal career.

On the other side, in the rain, in front of the berth where the Venetians were moored, Gawain stood in the mud and watched the 500 soldiers of the selected large company line up in a column and board the Venetian galley along the steps. Most of them were Italian veterans, and there were dozens of brothers who served as commanders and coordinators. After these veterans who had faced battles boarded the ship, they sat on the flooded deck without complaining, but the experienced guys all understood that there was going to be a fateful attack.

Finally, Gawain boarded the flagship where Freyre was. The old consul was dressed neatly. Even if he was drenched in rain, he would never leave the command tower. After seeing Gawain, the two shook hands and exchanged two words. "This is the commander of the Razor Company, Gonletto." After the introduction, a strong man wearing chain mail and scarred on his face shook hands with Gawain in the same brief greeting. "Let's go, raise the battle flag of the consul of St. Mark, and attack the harbor of Zata City!" The three men were the kind who didn't want to talk nonsense, and then Freyre's old and powerful voice sounded.

Hula, a crimson flag with a golden lion on it, a pair of flying wings on its back, a sword in its front paws, and a wave pattern on its back paws, and a crown on its head, quickly rose on the mast of the flagship, and soon fluttered in the wind and rain.

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Seeking some tickets at the end of the month to celebrate the successful graduation of Sura E6. (To be continued ~^~)